World Local Production Forum 2023 - Report of 2nd meeting in Netherlands

World Local Production Forum on enhancing access to medicines and other health technologies: report of the second meeting, The Hague, Netherlands (‎Kingdom of the)‎, 6–8 November 2023

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240097896

This report provides an overview of the second WLPF, held from November 6 to 8, 2023, in The Hague, Netherlands (Kingdom of the). Organized by the WHO Local Production and Assistance (LPA) Unit, the WLPF Secretariat, and hosted by the Netherlands (Kingdom of the), the forum featured dynamic discussions and productive exchanges. The event fostered global coordination, partnerships and collective actions through plenary sessions, panel discussions, workshops, showcases, interactive participation from the audience and networking opportunities.

Key recommendations were formulated to foster collaboration between national, regional, and global ecosystems, strengthen local production capacity, and facilitate voluntary technology transfer on mutually agreed terms. These recommendations aim to enhance timely, equitable, and sustainable access to medical products and technologies. These include developing a comprehensive mapping and global database of actors, programs and available resources in manufacturing and technology transfer, supporting Member States in creating and strengthening sustainable local production ecosystems, promoting public health and cooperation among governments and financial providers for promoting conducive financial environments, and establishing a network to synchronize training resources and facilities for building private and public sector capacities in manufacturing, technology transfer, etc. The 2nd WLPF calls on all relevant stakeholders to actively engage and support the implementation of these recommendations.

[Summary Cross-posted with thanks from Public Citizen via the Covid-19-access listserv; WB]

Full report (PDF): https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/378275/9789240097896-eng.pdf?sequence=1

Very interesting report from WHO.

If you are interested in local manufacturing of health products, Wemos has recently published a case study on BioNTech Africa and regional manufacturing of vaccines: Report on BioNTech Africa: more needed to achieve sustainable regional production of medicines - Wemos

You can also find the highlights from our side event at the 2nd World Local Production Forum: https://www.wemos.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Report-Wemos-side-event-World-Local-Production-Forum-2023.pdf